Murder on the Ballarat train

I blogged that Kerry Greenwood's research for Raisins and Almonds seemed to be quite impressive.   So, when I came across Miss Phryne Fisher's investigations in Murder on the Ballarat Train, I wondered about the quality of the research for this book.    Based on a fairly quick review, it doesn't seen to have been of the same standard as the Eastern Market mystery (which included a list of sources).  I understand that Murder of the Ballarat Train dates from 1991, whereas Raisins and Almonds dates from 1997; perhaps the author became more interested in historical details as she developed as a writer?

In particular, it seems to me that Kerry may have taken a few liberties with the location of the murder.   The closest timetable I could locate was a 1924 Working Timetable.  The events in the book are set in 1928, so in theory there may have been some changes (but I doubt it).  Assuming things in 1928 were similar to those in 1924,  there was no train departing Flinders Street for Ballarat at 6 p m (see page 14) although there were trains departing Spencer Street for Ballarat at 5.05 and 7.09 pm.  In fact, my impression is that it would have been very unusual indeed for Ballarat trains to have departed from Flinders Street.  The murder is said to have occurred at a water tower about 10 minutes before Ballan (pages 28 and 140), but this could not have occurred, as the only water towers were at Bacchus Marsh and Ballan.  There was an electric staff station at a small sttion called Ingliston, but no water.

No "W" symbol between Bacchus Marsh and Ballan in 1964

A missed opportunity in the book is to refer to the long climb up the Ingliston Bank, between Bacchus Marsh and Ballan, which has also resulted in on optimistic schedule (1 hour 15 minutes after leaving the city) in the book (page 16) for the train to arrive at a point 10 minutes before Ballan.   The 1924 train that departed Melbourne at 5.05 pm took 52 minutes between Bacchus Marsh and Ballan, mostly spent in climbing this bank (arriving at Ballan at 7.12 pm, over 2 hours after leaving the city), and the 7.09 pm departure took 54 minutes. The distance from Bacchus Marsh to Ballan is 17¾ miles, with a climb of 1323 feet.  Although trains in 1964 still crawled up this bank, times are much improved today according to the V/Line timetables.

Ah well, the book is fictional in so many other ways, and quite a good read, so perhaps a few liberties can be excused!